


Baking Lesson

by Palefire73



Series: Prisoners. The Chronicles of Loki and Erika [8]
Category: Loki - Fandom, Marvel, Norse Gods - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Reality, Baking, Cake, F/M, Fluff, Fun, Loki Is A Mischief, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-10 11:28:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11126130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palefire73/pseuds/Palefire73
Summary: When you love someone, you share things with them that mean a lot to you. It could be music, a book, a special place, or it could be a favourite recipe.Erika decides Loki needs to learn to bake the honey cakes he loves.





	Baking Lesson

Having spent her formative years as part of a loving family in which everyone did their fair share Erika was quite proficient in many of the tasks necessary to keep things running smoothly in a home environment. Admittedly, most of the things had been assigned in a fairly stereotypical fashion, with the women doing more of the lighter tasks and the men doing the more difficult or heavier ones, but this was not down to sexism or misogyny; it was purely practical. However, Erika’s father was a broad minded man and he had encouraged her to at least watch – if not help out – some of the things he tended to do rather than her mother, and so she was fairly adept at using woodworking tools, mending various things and chopping the odd log or two for the fire. In the same way, her brother had been drafted into the kitchen and laundry room on more than one occasion too. Even though their lives had been turned upside down when it was revealed her father and brother were involved in a plot to kill Loki and were subsequently executed, Erika still managed to look back on her earlier life with fondness and not a day went by now where she didn’t silently thank her parents for giving her skills for life.

 

Loki, on the other hand, had been given the privilege of having servants as a Prince of Asgard and one could imagine that this might lead to a certain level of “softness” when it came to knowledge of the various skills necessary to own and run one’s own farm and stables. However, the Trickster would have pleasantly surprised any doubters. His mother had ensured that he learned a lot of domestic chores as he had been growing up, as her philosophy was one of knowing just how hard the servants worked for them. Only then, she used to say, could they be appreciated properly. Her tuition had extended to horticulture and Loki had spent countless hours learning all about how to care for plants – from the tiniest of water algae right up to the giant trees which could be found here and there in the grounds of the Palace. Horsemanship had been his big passion and things such as woodcraft were part of the survival training he had undergone when it had been his turn to finally attend the elite training camp reserved for the Royals and their extended family and friendship circle. So, all-in-all, Loki had a wide range of skills.

 

Today, however, Erika had decided he needed a lesson in something new and she had got up especially early to arrange it. Although she was quite sure that Loki had been allowed access to the kitchens in the Palace and had probably dabbled in cooking every now and again, meals were provided regularly throughout the day for everyone living and working in the giant Palace compound and he would probably not have had much of an opportunity to practise the art of baking. As far as Erika was concerned, there was nothing quite like the anticipation to be felt upon smelling the first faint aromas of a baking cake. Learning to have the patience to allow it to cook properly but knowing just when to take it out before it was spoiled was definitely a skill she considered to be one of the more important ones in life. Since arriving at the farm a few weeks ago, the two of them had shared most of the meal preparation between them, but it seemed that Loki was quite content to take a back seat when Erika got into the swing of making a meal and it was very often the case that he was relegated to her assistant and did things like laying the table and fetching and carrying, rather than actually cooking. Just as she was checking that everything was ready – which included tasting the main ingredient of the cakes –  Loki appeared at the bottom of the stairs and wandered over to her with a sleepy smile on his face.

 

“Good morning.” He said, coming up to stand behind her as she surveyed the ingredients and utensils on the counter top. Erika turned around to face him just in time to receive a quick peck on the cheek, which she turned into a kiss by grasping his face in her hands and pulling him closer to her. It was a greeting the tall God could not resist and he accepted it with enthusiasm.

“Good morning, Loki.” She said and waited a moment, only to see him lick his lips thoughtfully. “Honey.” She explained, “One of the ingredients you are going to be using this morning.”

 

Loki licked his thin lips again and raised an eyebrow quizzically, “Why am I using ingredients this morning?” He asked, and he went to fetch the kettle to put some water on to boil.

“Because I am teaching you something new!” Said Erika brightly, and she held out an apron, “Put this on and when you have made us a cup of tea I will explain.”

“Very well,” Said Loki, clearly enjoying the idea of trying out something new and as he went about preparing the tea, Erika ensured the oven would be warm enough and that the tins which contained small recesses for the cakes to be baked in were greased.

“There you are.” Said Loki and he handed her a cup of freshly brewed tea. It was not Midgardian tea – such an item would have been complicated to provide and the limited time for designing in everything else meant that it had been decided that food stuffs and other items would simply be left as any commoner would encounter so that a lot of the real Asgard could simply be replicated easily and quickly. So they were drinking a tea which was from this alternate reality, in a place where the eco-climate was perfect to cultivate it. Erika sipped at the pale golden brew and nodded towards the counter top, “Have you guessed yet?”

 

Loki’s eyes travelled over everything which was laid out with great precision and pulled a thoughtful face, “I believe I have…”

“What do you think it is?!” Erika was quite excited at the thought of passing this recipe on and of course the prospect of cake to eat fresh out of the oven was always a treat to be looked forward to.

“Could it be…” Loki took the honey dipper from the jar and sniffed at it inquisitively, “… hmmm a slight bouquet of heather blossom…”

“What? What do you think?” Erika was getting a little impatient as Loki seemed to be dragging his guess out. He placed the dipper back and glanced at her mischievously.

“Are we making…” Erika almost squealed with anticipation and stared at his mouth, the perfect lips slightly open and the words she wanted to hear only moments away from being uttered by them.

“Loki! I cannot bear it! Make your guess!”

Loki laughed at her eagerness to be getting on with his lesson in – so he believed – making her famous honey cakes, as passed down to her by her mother and her grandmother before her, and only just dodged a flick of the edge of her apron. He held his hands up in surrender and approached her slowly, smiling down at her lovingly as she gazed up at him, still waiting for his guess. He stroked a tendril of hair back from her face and cupped her jaw with his hand as he placed his other forefinger gently on her lips.

“Shhh… Erika. No matter what it is that you are teaching me to make, I know I will enjoy every second. However, I am guessing…” he leaned in and planted a soft kiss on the lips his finger had held shut only a second before, “that we are going to be making…” another kiss, longer and sweeter this time, “lovely honey cakes?” He drew back and studied her as he waited now for her to be the one who answered.

 

Erika, who was a little lost in the afterglow of his gentle kisses, took a moment to orient herself and she smoothed her apron down as she cleared her throat and nodded. Loki smiled inwardly as he watched her and then she said “Yes! Of course we are. It is high time you learned how to make them.” She turned back to the ingredients and it was not long before she was directing Loki in how to measure them out and which order to mix them in and just how to do it. Eventually they arrived at a large bowl of fragrant cake mix at the right consistency and Erika turned to the tins. “I will show you how much to put in each recess,” she said and then they both filled a tin each, with twelve cakes apiece, ready to go in the oven.

 

“What do we do with this?” Asked Loki, holding up the mixing bowl, in which there was still a reasonable amount of cake mix. He dipped a finger in it and brought a small blob of it to his mouth,

“No! Don’t!” exclaimed Erika, “It is not pleasant!”

“What do you mean?” Replied Loki as he licked the mixture from his finger, “It is quite delightful.” He got another.

“Stop it!” Erika reached for the bowl, but Loki held it up, grinning as he put his finger in his mouth, “Mmmm…”

“Loki, that is just dirty and you will give yourself belly ache!” Erika was growing annoyed and she reached right up to try to get the bowl, but Loki stepped backwards.

 

Unfortunately, he bumped into the corner of the counter top and the bowl fell from his hand and they both watched in horror as it seemed to aim for the floor in slow motion. Then Loki brought his other hand around and a puff of sparkling blue dust emanated from his fingers to cushion the bowl just before it landed. Before she could realise properly what had happened, Loki had retrieved the bowl and had placed it back on the counter, safe and sound. A slight blue glow from around the bottom of it faded from view and Erika looked at Loki, who shrugged apologetically and asked, “Do we have any more cake tins?”

“Any more antics like that and I will shackle you!” Exclaimed Erika and she opened a cupboard door to get a couple more tins to use the rest of the cake mix in. As she closed it and placed them on the counter, she saw a thoughtful look on Loki’s face and wondered what the matter was. He glanced at his wrists and back at the bowl, and it was only a split-second, but Erika’s belly dropped as she realised what she had said. _Was he remembering when he had been chained back in Asgard? Had she inadvertently triggered a memory of his past just as she had been warned about by The Vision?_

 

She clanked the tins a little and reached for the bowl, trying to look as if she had not seen anything, and Loki blinked a couple of times before picking up a spoon and brandishing it.

“Am I spooning out the mixture this time?” He asked, “Do you trust me to only put it in the tins?” He smiled, and Erika hoped it was a genuine one and that the moment had passed.

“Of course. Let me see if you get it right.”

 

And so Loki measured out the rest of the cakes and then they were placed in the oven for just enough time to make another cup of tea, and it was not long before they were enjoying honey cakes for breakfast freshly made by his very own hand.


End file.
